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Thursday, March 8, 2018

OPENING: Dael Orlandersmith's One-Woman Show Until the Flood at Goodman Theatre 4/27-5/13/18

Chi IL Live Shows On Our Radar:

RACE AND REASON FRAME PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST DAEL ORLANDERSMITH’S NEWEST WORK 
UNTIL THE FLOOD, 
IN A CHICAGO PREMIERE PRODUCTION AT GOODMAN THEATRE


** *THE LIMITED RUN APPEARS IN THE OWEN THEATRE APRIL 27 - MAY 13; TICKETS NOW ON SALE***

On the heels of a critically-acclaimed off-Broadway run, Goodman Theatre Artistic Associate and Alice Center Resident Artist Dael Orlandersmith brings her one-woman show, Until the Flood to Goodman Theatre, April 27 – May 13. Directed by Neel Keller, Orlandersmith “finds common humanity” (Variety) with “an urgent moral inquest” (The New York Times) of the social unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, following the shooting of teenager Michael Brown. Pulling from a series of extensive interviews, Orlandersmith crafts a theatrical experience in which a diverse mosaic of voices try to come to terms with the complex events that shook the nation. Until the Flood appears April 27 – May 13, 2018 (opening night is April 29 at 7pm) in Goodman Theatre’s 350-seat flexible Owen Theatre. Tickets ($10 - $29; subject to change) are available at GoodmanTheatre.org/UntilTheFlood, by phone at 312.443.3800 or at the box office (170 N. Dearborn).

“I was approached by the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis to create a work about the shooting of Michael Brown because art can create some sort of dialogue, at least,” said Pulitzer Prize Finalist Dael Orlandersmith, whose previous Goodman productions include Black n Blue Boys/Broken Men and Stoop Stories. “I am, first and foremost, a theater worker, and I needed to make these characters come alive with their own individual truths. Throughout this process, Neel and I have made an effort to look into the soul of people unflinchingly and bring them to life.”

Until the Flood made its world premiere at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis in fall 2016. The theater’s initial concept behind the commission was an artistic approach to what appeared to be an ongoing national conversation. Serving dual roles as writer and performer, Orlandersmith’s work has garnered high praise for her exploratory neutrality in this character study. Recently hailed as a New York Times Critics Pick, the production currently appears off-Broadway at the Rattlestick Theater for a limited run until February 18. The show will debut at The Milwaukee Repertory Theater from March 13 to April 22, before making its Chicago premiere at the Goodman.

"I first heard Dael perform her dazzling poetry 30 years ago. As a writer, performer and friend, she always surprises and confounds me. In Until The Flood she does it again—wading into the divisive, polarized enmity swirling around Darren Wilson's shooting of Michael Brown, and returning with stories and characters who reveal how bound together we actually are in the same roiling, painful currents of emotion, history, race and politics" said director Neel Keller. 

ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Dael Orlandersmith is an Artist Associate and Alice Center Resident Artist at the Goodman. Orlandersmith has collaborated with the Goodman on Black n Blue Boys/Broken Men during the 2012/2013 Season and Stoop Stories during the 2009/2010 Season. Black n Blue Boys/Broken Men was developed as a co-commission between the Goodman and Berkeley Repertory Theatre, where it was staged in May 2012. Orlandersmith first performed Stoop Stories  in 2008 at The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival and Apollo Theater’s Salon Series; Washington, D.C.’s Studio Theatre produced its world premiere in 2009. Her play Monster premiered at New York Theatre Workshop in 1996. The Gimmick, commissioned by McCarter Theatre, premiered in their Second Stage OnStage series in 1998 and went on to great acclaim at Long Wharf Theatre and New York Theatre Workshop; Orlandersmith won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for The Gimmick in 1999. Yellowman was commissioned by and premiered at McCarter Theatre in a co-production with The Wilma Theater and Long Wharf Theatre. Orlandersmith was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and Drama Desk Award nominee for Outstanding Play and Outstanding Actress in a Play for Yellowman in 2002. The Blue Album, in collaboration with David Cale, premiered at Long Wharf Theatre in 2007. Bones was commissioned by the Mark Taper Forum, where it premiered in 2010. Orlandersmith wrote and performed a solo memoir play called Forever at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles in 2014, at the Long Wharf and New York Theatre Workshop in 2015, at Portland Center Stage in 2016 and the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 2017. In the fall of 2016, Orlandersmith wrote and performed Until the Flood, which was commissioned by St Louis Repertory Theatre. In 2018, it will be produced at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in New York, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre and ACT Seattle. Orlandersmith has toured extensively with the Nuyorican Poets Café (Real Live Poetry) throughout the United States, Europe and Australia. Yellowman and a collection of her earlier works have been published by Vintage Books and Dramatists Play Service. Orlandersmith attended Sundance Institute Theatre Lab for four summers and is the recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts Grant, The Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights, a Guggenheim and the 2005 PEN/Laura Pels Foundation Award for a playwright in mid-career.  She is the recipient of a Lucille Lortel Foundation Playwrights Fellowship and an Obie Award for Beauty’s Daughter. Orlandersmith is currently working on two commissions.

Neel Keller (Director) is a Los Angeles-based theater director and an Associate Artistic Director at Center Theatre Group, where he helps develop, direct and produce productions at CTG’s three venues: the Ahmanson, Mark Taper Forum and Kirk Douglas theaters. As a director and collaborator, he has worked extensively on new plays. His recent productions include the world premieres of Julia Cho’s Office Hour, Jennifer Haley’s The Nether, Kimber Lee’s different words for the same thing, Dael Orlandersmith’s Until the Flood and Forever and Lucy Alibar’s Throw Me On The Burnpile and Light Me Up. He has also directed works by Shelia Callaghan, John Guare, David Greig, Tom Babe, Jessica Goldberg, Nicky Silver and Howard Gould, as well as classic plays by Molière, Tennessee Williams, Moss Hart, Joe Orton and Shakespeare. Keller’s productions have been mounted at theaters across the country, including The Public Theater, New York Theater Workshop, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Mark Taper Forum, Kirk Douglas Theater, South Coast Repertory, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Long Wharf Theater, Remains Theatre, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Portland Center Stage and Ireland’s Abbey Theatre. He has helped develop new plays with many organizations including, the Ojai Playwrights Conference, Sundance Theatre Lab, Hedgebrook and The Playwrights Center. He has served on review panels for several national organizations including the National Endowment for the Arts, the Kilroys, PEN West and Theatre Communications Group. He is an honors graduate of Oberlin College and a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and the Directors Guild of America

TICKETS, DISCOUNTS AND SPECIAL EVENTS

Tickets ($10-$29) – GoodmanTheatre.org/UntilTheFlood; 312.443.3800; Fax: 312.443.3825; TTY/TDD: 312.443.3829
Box Office Hours –12noon - 5pm; on performance days, the box office remains open until 30 minutes past curtain
MezzTix – Half-price day-of-performance mezzanine tickets available at 10am online (promo code MEZZTIX) 
$10Tix – Student $10 advance tickets; limit four, with valid student ID (promo code 10TIX)
Group Sales are available for parties 10 ; 312.443.3820
Gift Certificates – Available in any amount; GoodmanTheatre.org/GiftCertificates





ABOUT GOODMAN THEATRE
 AMERICA’S “BEST REGIONAL THEATRE” (Time magazine), Goodman Theatre is a premier not-for-profit organization distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and civic engagement. Led by Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, the theater’s artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large scale musical theater works and reimagined classics (celebrated revivals include Falls’ productions of Death of a Salesman and The Iceman Cometh). Goodman Theatre artists and productions have earned two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards, over 160 Jeff Awards and many more accolades. In addition, the Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle” and its annual holiday tradition A Christmas Carol, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this season, has created a new generation of theatergoers. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production partner with local off-Loop theaters and national and international companies by providing financial support or physical space for a variety of artistic endeavors.

Committed to three core values of Quality, Diversity and Community, the Goodman proactively makes inclusion the fabric of the institution and develops education and community engagement programs that support arts as education. This practice uses the process of artistic creation to inspire and empower youth, lifelong learners and audiences to find and/or enhance their voices, stories and abilities. The Goodman’s Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is the home of such programming, most offered free of charge, and has vastly expanded the theater’s ability to touch the lives of Chicagoland citizens (with 85% of youth participants coming from underserved communities) since its 2016 opening.

Goodman Theatre was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago’s cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family’s legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth’s family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation of the new Goodman center in 2000.

Today, Goodman Theatre leadership also includes the distinguished members of the Artistic Collective: Brian Dennehy, Rebecca Gilman, Henry Godinez, Dael Orlandersmith, Steve Scott, Chuck Smith, Regina Taylor, Henry Wishcamper and Mary Zimmerman. David W. Fox, Jr. is Chair of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Cynthia K. Scholl is Women’s Board President and Justin A. Kulovsek is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

OPENING: World Premiere of The Next Big Thing Via The Factory Theater Through 4/21/18

Chi IL Live Shows On Our Radar:

THE FACTORY THEATER ANNOUNCES THE SECOND PRODUCTION IN ITS 25TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON, 
CARRIE J. SULLIVAN’S 
THE NEXT BIG THING, 
MARCH 9 – APRIL 21, 2018


Company Member Carrie J. Sullivan Takes Audiences Back to the Late 90s When Grunge Rock Was King and It Was A Long Way to the Top for Those with a Dream of Rock ‘n’ Roll Fame


The Factory Theater presents the second production of its 25th anniversary season, the world premiere of The Next Big Thing, playing at the Factory Theater, 1623 W. Howard St., March 9 – April 21, 2018. The new play is written by Company Member and Managing Director Carrie J. Sullivan and directed by Company Member Robyn Coffin. Previews are Friday, March 9 and Saturday, March 10 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 11 at 3 p.m. 

Opening night is Friday, March 16 at 8 p.m. The regular run, March 16 – April 21, is Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Ticket prices are $5 for student and seniors during previews, $10 for general admission during previews, $18 for students and seniors and $25 for general admission. Tickets may be purchased by visiting TheFactoryTheater.com.

Grunge. The internet. Auto-tune. It was all happening – and about to happen – in 1997. For 19 year-old Beth Peterson, shaking the dust off her small town life to pursue a career in rock ‘n’ roll is a dream-come-true. In The Next Big Thing, audiences find out if Beth can navigate her new world and are witness to the harsh realities of the city, the industry and adulthood.


The cast for The Next Big Thing includes: Mary Jo Bolduc (Alex), Raj Bond (Toby), Blake Dalzin (Mike and Marilyn Manson), Nick Freed (Steve), Allison Grischow (Beth), Kiayla Ryabb (Monica), Tim Newell (Clive) and Jake Szczpaniak (Evan and Beck). Understudies include Stacie Barra+, Spenser Davis+, Elleon Dobias and Ava Gong.

The creative and production team for The Next Big Thing includes: Greg Caldwell+ (production manager), Robyn Coffin+(director), Alan Donahue (set designer), David Goodman-Edberg (lighting designer), Christine Jennings+ (properties designer), Jason Moody+ (assistant director/musical director), Gary Nocco (costumes), Scott OKen+ (assistant director), Carrie J. Sullivan+ (playwright), John Syzmanski (sound designer), Jermaine Thomas+ (stage manager), CW Van Baale+ (master electrician) and Maureen Yasko (intimacy coach).

+Factory Theater company member

About Carrie J. Sullivan, playwright
Carrie J. Sullivan has been a proud company member of The Factory since 2004, and Managing Director since 2007. She is beyond thrilled and a little terrified to see her first full-length play come to life on the stage of The Factory's new home on Howard Street in Rogers Park. Past writing credits include a one-act play for a bygone Abbie Hoffmann Festival called The Guardians of Rock, and many, many grants. She is also thrilled to name-drop her home town and remains a fiercely proud Yooper. 

About Robyn Coffin, director
Robyn Coffin is delighted to be making her feature length, directorial debut at her Factory home where she has been an ensemble member since 2012. Coffin has worked with Haven Theatre, Silent Theatre, Fine Print, Crew of Patches and Raven. You can see her as Cindy Herrmann on NBC's Chicago Fire. Occasionally you'll spot her in a whacky commercial, a cool film or more fun tv shows. 



About The Factory Theater
For almost 25 years, The Factory has created its shows from scratch, doing exactly the kind of theater they wanted to do. From writing workshops to the closing night bash, Factory shows are a unique experience that fits its exacting standards: original, bold, and full-tilt. Its shameless ensemble is ambassadors of a good time, making certain that Chicago remains heartily entertained.

SAVE THE DATES: BROADWAY IN CHICAGO ANNOUNCES NEXT SEASON ON SALE 3/28/18

Chi IL Live Shows On Our Radar:

BROADWAY IN CHICAGO ANNOUNCES 
NEXT SEASON TO FEATURE
TONY® AND GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING BEST MUSICAL DEAR EVAN HANSEN,
PRE-BROADWAY WORLD PREMIERE OF THE NEW COMEDY MUSICAL, TOOTSIE,
TONY®-WINNING BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL HELLO, DOLLY! STARRING
BROADWAY LEGEND BETTY BUCKLEY,
ROALD DAHL’S CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY,
MISS SAIGON and THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG



OFF-SEASON SPECIALS WILL INCLUDE 
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
AND BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND, THE BOOK OF MORMON

On Sale to the General Public Wednesday, March 28

Here at ChiIL Mama and ChiIL Live Shows, we've been promoting and reviewing Broadway In Chicago shows since 2010. We're eager to catch this new season too. It's packed with award winning productions, another Pre-Broadway World Premiere, old favorites, and new shows. Tickets are on sale March 28th. Check it out.

Broadway In Chicago is delighted to announce its upcoming season line-up which features six time 2017 Tony and 2018 Grammy Award winning Best Musical DEAR EVAN HANSEN, the Pre-Broadway World Premiere of the new comedy musical, TOOTSIE, the Tony Award-winning Best Musical Revival HELLO, DOLLY! starring Broadway legend Betty Buckley, ROALD DAHL’S CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, MISS SAIGON and THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG.

Off-season specials will include: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF and, back by popular demand, THE BOOK OF MORMON returns to Chicago.

The upcoming season will go on sale to the public on Wednesday, March 28, 2018, and the six-show packages begin at $144. Current subscribers can renew now by visiting BroadwayInChicago.com or calling 312-977-1717.

Subscriber benefits include savings of up to 48% off ticket prices, discounts on parking and suite service, invitations to Broadway In Chicago exclusive events, exchange privileges based on availability and more. The Broadway In Chicago line-up, including performance dates and venues, is as follows:

TOOTSIE
Pre-Broadway World Premiere!
Sept. 11 – Oct. 14, 2018
Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph
The world premiere comedy musical, TOOTSIE, tells the story of a talented but difficult actor who struggles to find work until an audacious, desperate stunt lands him the role of a lifetime. TOOTSIE will star Tony Award nominee SANTINO FONTANA as struggling actor Michael Dorsey.  Santino is well known to TV and film audiences for his role as Greg on “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” and for providing the voice to the villainous ‘Prince Hans’ in the blockbuster animated film, Frozen. TOOTSIE features an original score by Tony Award nominee David Yazbek (The Band’s Visit, The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), a book by Robert Horn (13; Dame Edna, Back with a Vengeance), choreography by Tony Award nominee Denis Jones (Holiday Inn, Honeymoon in Vegas), and musical direction by Andrea Grody (The Band’s Visit).  TOOTSIE will be directed by eight-time Tony Award nominee and Olivier Award winner Scott Ellis (She Loves Me, On the Twentieth Century). 




ROALD DAHL’S CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
Oct. 2 – Oct. 21, 2018            
Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph  
Roald Dahl's amazing tale is now Chicago’s golden ticket! It's the perfect recipe for a delectable treat: songs from the original film, including "Pure Imagination," "The Candy Man," and "I've Got a Golden Ticket," alongside a toe-tapping and ear-tickling new score from the songwriters of Hairspray. Get ready for Oompa-Loompas, incredible inventions, the great glass elevator, and more, more, more at this everlasting showstopper! Entertainment Weekly raves “Broadway’s Big Treat” and NPR exclaims “You’ll have a ball!”



HELLO, DOLLY!
Oct. 23 – Nov. 17, 2018         
Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph
Tony Award-winning Broadway legend Betty Buckley stars in HELLO, DOLLY! – the universally acclaimed smash that NPR calls “the best show of the year!”  Winner of four Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival, director Jerry Zaks’ “gorgeous” new production (Vogue) is “making people crazy happy!” (The Washington Post).  Breaking box office records week after week and receiving thunderous raves on Broadway, this HELLO, DOLLY! pays tribute to the original work of legendary director/choreographer Gower Champion – hailed both then and now as one of the greatest stagings in musical theater history.  Rolling Stone calls it “a must-see event. A musical comedy dream. If you’re lucky enough to score a ticket, you’ll be seeing something historic. Wow, wow, wow, indeed!”


MISS SAIGON                                   
Nov. 13 – Dec. 8, 2018
Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph           
Experience the acclaimed new production of the legendary musical MISS SAIGON, from the creators of Les Misérables. In the last days of the Vietnam War, 17-year-old Kim is forced to work in a bar run by a notorious character known as the Engineer. There she meets and falls in love with an American G.I. named Chris but they are torn apart by the fall of Saigon. For three years, Kim goes on an epic journey of survival to find her way back to Chris, who has no idea he's fathered a son.  This new production features stunning spectacle and a sensational cast of 42 performing the soaring score featuring Broadway hits including “The Heat is On in Saigon,” “The Movie in My Mind,” and “Last Night of the World.”  The New Yorker raves “A DYNAMITE BROADWAY REVIVAL.”


THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG                        
Dec. 4 – Dec. 16, 2018
Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph                      
What would happen if Sherlock Holmes and Monty Python had an illegitimate Broadway baby?  You’d get THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG, Broadway & London’s award-winning smash comedy!  Called “A GUT-BUSTING HIT” (The New York Times) and “THE FUNNIEST PLAY BROADWAY HAS EVER SEEN” (HuffPost), this classic murder mystery is chock-full of mishaps and madcap mania delivering “A RIOTOUS EXPLOSION OF COMEDY” (Daily Beast).  Welcome to opening night of The Murder at Haversham Manor where things are quickly going from bad to utterly disastrous. With an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that can’t play dead, and actors who trip over everything (including their lines), it’s “TONS OF FUN FOR ALL AGES” (HuffPost) and “COMIC GOLD” (Variety) – sure to bring down the house!




DEAR EVAN HANSEN        
Feb. 12 – March 10, 2019        
Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph     
WINNER OF SIX 2017 TONY AWARDS® INCLUDING BEST MUSICAL AND THE 2018 GRAMMY AWARD FOR BEST MUSICAL THEATRE ALBUM!
A letter that was never meant to be seen, a lie that was never meant to be told, a life he never dreamed he could have.  Evan Hansen is about to get the one thing he’s always wanted: a chance to finally fit in.  DEAR EVAN HANSEN is the deeply personal and profoundly contemporary musical about life and the way we live it.  The Washington Post says DEAR EVAN HANSEN is “ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE SHOWS IN MUSICAL THEATER HISTORY.”  Rolling Stone calls DEAR EVAN HANSEN, “a game-changer that hits you like a shot in the heart” and NBC News says the musical is “an inspiring anthem resonating on Broadway and beyond.”   The Original Broadway Cast Recording of DEAR EVAN HANSEN, produced by Atlantic Records, made an extraordinary debut on the Billboard 200 when released and entered the chart at #8 – the highest charting debut position for an original cast album since 1961—before winning the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.


OFF-SEASON SPECIALS WILL INCLUDE:

THE BOOK OF MORMON
Nov. 20 – Dec. 2, 2018          
Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph
The New York Times calls it, “The best musical of the century.” The Washington Post says, “It is the kind of evening that restores your faith in musicals.” And Entertainment Weekly says, “Grade A: the funniest musical of all time.”  Jimmy Fallon of The Tonight Show calls it “Genius. Brilliant. Phenomenal.” It’s THE BOOK OF MORMON, the nine-time Tony Award®-winning BEST MUSICAL.  This outrageous musical comedy follows the misadventures of a mismatched pair of missionaries, sent halfway across the world to spread the Good Word. Now with standing room only productions in Australia, London, on Broadway, and across North America, THE BOOK OF MORMON has truly become an international sensation. Contains explicit language.


FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
Dec. 18, 2018 – Jan. 6, 2019
Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph
“An entirely fresh, funny, and gorgeous new production. A REASON FOR CELEBRATION!” – New York Magazine.  Rich with musical hits you know and love, including "Tradition," "Sunrise, Sunset;' "If I Were A Rich Man;' "Matchmaker, Matchmaker" and "To Life (L'Chaim!)," FIDDLER ON THE ROOF is the heartwarming story of fathers and daughters, husbands and wives, and life, love and laughter.  Tony®-winning director Bartlett Sher and the team behind South Pacific, The King and I and 2017 Tony-winning Best Play Oslo, bring a fresh and authentic vision to this beloved theatrical masterpiece from Tony winner Joseph Stein and Pulitzer Prize winners Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick.  Featuring a talented cast, lavish orchestra and stunning movement and dance from Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter, based on the original staging by Jerome Robbins, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF will introduce a new generation to the uplifting celebration that raises its cup to joy! To love! To life!



ABOUT BROADWAY IN CHICAGO
Broadway In Chicago was created in July 2000 and over the past 18 years has grown to be one of the largest commercial touring homes in the country.  A Nederlander Presentation, Broadway In Chicago lights up the Chicago Theater District entertaining well up more than 1.7 million people annually in five theatres. Broadway In Chicago presents a full range of entertainment, including musicals and plays, on the stages of five of the finest theatres in Chicago’s Loop including the Cadillac Palace Theatre, CIBC Theatre, Oriental Theatre, and just off the Magnificent Mile, the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place and presenting Broadway shows at The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University. 

For more information, visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com.   Facebook @BroadwayInChicago ● Twitter @broadwaychicago ● Instagram @broadwayinchicago ● #broadwayinchicago

OPENING: CHICAGO DEBUT OF FEMINIST COMEDY WOMEN LAUGHING ALONE WITH SALAD AT THEATER WIT THROUGH APRIL 29

Chi IL Live Shows On Our Radar:

STOCK PHOTO CLICHÉ TURNED INTERNET MEME TURNED FEMINIST COMEDY 
WOMEN LAUGHING ALONE WITH SALAD 
MAKES ITS CHICAGO DEBUT MARCH 9-APRIL 29 AT THEATER WIT


ChiIL Mama will be out for the press opening on March 20th. I can't wait to catch what's sure to be a humorous, feminist look at the absurd ideals women face in media and in life. And in other great news, not only does this show promise to serve up big laughs, it comes with an immediate side of economic justice!

Single tickets to Women Laughing Alone with Salad are $12-$70.

However, tickets for women to all regular performances will be discounted to match the 79% wage gap between men and women in Illinois.

To illustrate, at the $24 ticket level, male-identifying patrons pay full price, while female-identifying patrons pay only $18.95, corrected for the 79% wage gap.

Theater Wit is tossing up a crisp Chicago premiere of Women Laughing Alone with Salad, Sheila Callaghan’s satirical comedy based on the meta-feminist Internet meme of the same name.

Don’t miss this four-person, satirical, subversive tour-de-force about friendship, salad, sex, bodies, yoga, salad, men, envy, women, pharmaceuticals, diets, salad, uppers and salad. 



Previews of Women Laughing Alone with Salad are March 9-18: Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m.

Performances run through April 29: Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at
3 p.m.

Theater Wit is located at 1229 N. Belmont in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood. Another great way to secure seats is to sign up for a Theater Wit Membership, an “all the theater you can eat” deal that lets you see as many plays as you want in any of Wit’s three spaces for a low monthly fee of $29/$22 for students, along with many member perks.

To purchase single tickets, a Membership, or to inquire about Flex Passes, visit TheaterWit.org or call 773.975.8150.



More about Women Laughing Alone with Salad

You’ve seen them a hundred times before. Stock photos of attractive women, sitting alone, enjoying a salad so hilarious they can’t help but explode with laughter and delight.

The proliferation of this absurd cliché caught the attention of the Internet in 2011 after Edith Zimmerman posted the first collection on the feminist blog The Hairpin. Titled “Women Laughing Alone With Salad,” it featured 18 photos illustrating this trend with no accompanying text.

Zimmerman’s post spurred a number of hilarious memes parodying this stereotypical portrayal of women in media, including a tumblr page.

And this play, a fierce, funny, feminist look at the maniacal gauntlet of gender relations and the relentless pursuit of insane ideals. Our heroines are trapped on a treadmill of dysfunctional relationships, warped body image and ludicrous pornography, carving their way through a suffocating, tangled mess. With pointed jabs and razor wit, Women Laughing Alone with Salad disembowels the cosmetic myth of pre-packaged feminine empowerment.

When it debuted at Washington D.C.’s Woolly Mammoth Theatre in 2015, playwright Sheila Callaghan, also a writer/producer on the hit Showtime comedy Shameless, told the Washington Post, “Nobody likes salad that much. And the notion that you’re supposed to feel that way – salad will never be that kind of satisfying. No matter how creative you get with salad, it’s still (expletive) lettuce and vegetables, right?”

DC Theatre Scene subsequently hailed Women Laughing Alone with Salad a “fresh, funny play…the poster child for what feminist theatre should be: a great night out on the town watching a slam bam comedy which is also a serious conversation about the society we oh-so-currently live in.”

Salad Days @ Theater Wit:
Behind the scenes of Women Laughing Alone with Salad



Here in Chicago, Devon de Mayo (pictured above) makes her Theater Wit directorial debut with Women Laughing Alone with Salad, fresh from staging the world premiere of The Burn by Philip Dawkins for Steppenwolf Theatre for Young Audiences. Other recent projects include Harvey at Court Theatre, You On the Moors Now by Jaclyn Backhaus for The Hypocrites, the world premiere of Sycamore at Raven Theatre and Don't Look Back/Must Look Back at Pivot Arts.


Wit’s Women Laughing Alone with Salad stars Echaka Agba, Japhet Balaban, Jennifer Engstrom and Daniella Pereira.

Echaka Agba (Meredith/Bruce) was named to the Chicago Tribune’s “Hot New Faces of Chicago Theater, Class of 2017”), and singled out in the 2017 Time Out Chicago Theater Awards for featured performance and breakout performance in Broken Nose Theatre’s At the Table, which also won her the Jeff Award for Best Supporting Actress. Other credits are Short Shakes! Romeo and Juliet at Chicago Shakespeare, United Flight 232, Jeff Award winner for Best Ensemble at House Theatre, and The Crucible and Between Riverside and Crazy at Steppenwolf.

Japhet Balaban (Guy/Alice) was also named to the Chicago Tribune’s “Hot New Faces of Chicago Theater, Class of 2017”), drawing particular attention for his work in Ideation (Jackalope Theatre). Other credits are You on the Moors Now (The Hypocrites), Posh (Steep Theatre), Never The Sinner (Victory Gardens), Balm in Gilead (Griffin Theatre) and Look Back in Anger (Redtwist).

Jennifer Engstrom (Sandy/Guy) is a veteran of regional and Chicago stages and an A Red Orchid Theatre ensemble member, where she performed in The Fastest Clock in The Universe, Eric LaRue, Fatboy, The Hothouse, 3C and The Mutilated (Jeff nomination for Outstanding Actress).

Daniella Pereira (Tori/Joe) was most recently seen in Letters Home (Griffin Theatre), The Taming of the Shrew (Oak Park Festival Theatre) and Cymbeline (Strawdog Theatre Company).



Sheila Callaghan's plays have been produced and developed with Soho Rep, Playwright's Horizons, Yale Rep, South Coast Rep, Clubbed Thumb, The LARK, Actor's Theatre of Louisville, New Georges, The Flea, Woolly Mammoth, Boston Court and Rattlestick Playwright's Theatre. She received the Princess Grace Award for emerging artists, a Jerome Fellowship from Playwright's Center in Minneapolis, a MacDowell Residency, a Cherry Lane Mentorship Fellowship, the Susan Smith Blackburn Award and the Whiting Award. Her plays have been produced internationally in New Zealand, Australia, Norway, Germany, Portugal and the Czech Republic. These include Scab, Crawl Fade to White, Crumble, We Are Not These Hands, Dead City, Lascivious Something, Kate Crackernuts, That Pretty Pretty; Or, The Rape Play, Fever/Dream, Everything You Touch, Roadkill Confidential, Elevada and Bed. She is published with Playscripts.com and Samuel French, and several of her collections are published with Counterpoint Press. She has taught playwriting at Columbia University, The University of Rochester, The College of New Jersey, Florida State University and Spalding University. She is an affiliated artist with Clubbed Thumb, a member of the Obie winning playwright's organization 13P and an alumni of New Dramatists. In 2010, Callaghan was profiled by Marie Claire as one of "18 Successful Women Who Are Changing the World." She was also named one of Variety’s "10 Screenwriters to Watch" of 2010. Callaghan is a writer/producer on the hit Showtime comedy Shameless and a founder of the feminist activist group The Kilroys. She was nominated for a 2016 Golden Globe for her work on Hulu’s Casual and a 2017 WGA Award for her Shameless episode “I Am A Storm.”

Designers for Women Laughing Alone with Salad are Arnel Sancianco (set), Mieka van der Ploeg (costumes), Heather Gilbert (lights), Shain Longbehn (sound), Joe Burke (projections) Jesse Gaffney (props), Rachel Flesher (intimacy) and Clare Cooney (casting).


About Theater Wit
Theater Wit, Chicago’s “smart art” theater, is a major hub of the Chicago neighborhood theater scene, where audiences enjoy a smorgasbord of excellent productions in three, 99-seat spaces, see a parade of talented artists and mingle with audiences from all over Chicago.

“A thrilling addition to Chicago’s roster of theaters” (Chicago Tribune) and “a terrific place to see a show” (New City), Theater Wit is now in its eighth season at its home at
1229 N. Belmont Ave., in the heart of the new Belmont Theatre District in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood. In 2014, Theater Wit was awarded the National Theatre Award by the American Theatre Wing for strengthening the quality, diversity and dynamism of American theater.

The company’s most recent hits include The Antelope Party by Eric John Meyer, This Way Outta Santaland by Mitchell Fain, 10 Out of 12 and Mr. Burns, a post-electric play by Anne Washburn, Naperville by Mat Smart, The New Sincerity by Alena Smith, Bad Jews by Joshua Harmon, The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence and Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England by Madeleine George, and Completeness and The Four of Us by Itamar Moses.

Visit TheaterWit.org or call the Theater Wit box office, 773.975.8150, to purchase a Membership, inquire about Flex Pass options or to buy single tickets.

To receive an “artisanal selection of consonants and vowels from Theater Wit,” sign up at TheaterWit.org/mailing for exclusive updates, flash deals and behind-the-scenes production scoop every few weeks.

REVIEW: ROCKIN' RETRO FUN WITH PORCHLIGHT REVISITS THEY’RE PLAYING OUR SONG March 6-8th, 2018

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE’S PORCHLIGHT REVISITS,
“LOST” MUSICALS IN STAGED CONCERT SERIES, 
CONTINUES ITS FIFTH SEASON WITH 
THEY’RE PLAYING OUR SONG
STARRING SHARRIESE HAMILTON AND LORENZO RUSH JR.
AT THE RUTH PAGE CENTER FOR THE ARTS, 
MARCH 6 - 8

All Production Photos by Austin Packard


Review:
I just discovered a new favorite format for musical theatre... 

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we've been promoting Porchlight revisits shows for years, but I'd only ever seen their main stage productions. Now that I caught THEY’RE PLAYING OUR SONG, I'm hooked! 


Porchlight revisits shows are just a few nights, not off book, encamped on the main stage set, and utterly charming. They crackle with the improv energy of anything's possible. The pre-show history slide show, back story, and pop cultural placement of the piece is a hoot and a must see. They're Playing Our Song is retro relatable and too much fun. Earworm alert: The title tune is so catchy, your brain is likely to be "playing our song" on auto repeat for at least a few days after the last notes fade on stage. 



I've caught Lorenzo Rush Jr in Five Guys Named Moe (Court Theater) and Little Shop of Horrors (American Blues Theater), and Sharriese Hamilton in Rock of Ages (Drury Lane Oakbrook Theatre); Wonderful Town (Goodman Theatre),Thaddeus and Slocum (Lookingglass Theatre) Pericles (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); and We Three Lizas (About Face Theatre), so it was quite fun to see them together. The rapport between Sharriese Hamilton and Lorenzo Rush Jr was truly a treat. Don't miss this. 






The Tony Award-nominated Musical Features Book by Neil Simon, Music by Marvin Hamlisch and Lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager and the Production is Directed and Choreographed by Christopher Carter and Musical Direction by Andra Velis Simon 


Porchlight Music Theatre announced that Lorenzo Rush Jr has replaced James Earl Jones II in Porchlight Revisits They’re Playing Our Song, music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager and book by Neil Simon, with direction and choreography by Christopher Carter and musical direction by Andra Velis Simon. Porchlight Revisits They’re Playing our Song is presented for three-nights-only Tuesday, March 6 through Thursday, March 8 at 7:15 p.m. and is performed on the set of Porchlight’s Merrily We Roll Along (previews begin January 26) at Porchlight’s new home, The Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn Street. Tickets for They’re Playing Our Song are $35. All tickets include access to the popular pre-performance event, Behind the Show Backstory, a multimedia presentation, created and hosted by Porchlight Music Theatre Artistic Director Michael Weber that discusses the evening’s production including the show’s creative history, juicy backstage gossip and the state of the art on Broadway that season. Single tickets to They’re Playing Our Song and subscriptions for the entire series are available at porchlightmusictheatre.org or by calling the Porchlight Music Theatre box office at 773.777.9884. 



Due to a scheduling conflict, James Earl Jones II is unable to perform in this production. Rush assumes the role of “Vernon Gersch” and joins Sharriese Hamilton in Porchlight Revisits They’re Playing Our Song, a romantic musical comedy about the affair (both professional and romantic) of a wisecracking composer and an aspiring, offbeat lyricist. Creatively, their relationship works great, but personal trials and tribulations lead them toward finding a new way to make harmonious music together in this laugh-a-minute romantic charmer. The show features musical hits “Fallin’,” “If He Really Knew Me” and “Just For Tonight.”

The cast of Porchlight Revisits They’re Playing Our Song includes: Sharriese Hamilton (Sonia Walsk), Lorenzo Rush Jr. (Vernon Gersch) and Anastasia Arnold, (voice of Sonia Walsk); Kiersten Frumkin, (voice of Sonia Walsk); Yando Lopez,  (voice of Vernon Gersch); Billy Rude, (voice of Vernon Gersch); Tyler Symone, (voice of Sonia Walsk) and Koray Tarhan, (voice of Vernon Gersch).

The production team includes Christopher Carter, director; Andra Velis Simon, music director; Lucia Lombardi, stage manager; Joaquin Gomez, assistant stage manager and Samantha Treible, wardrobe supervisor.

The musicians are Chel Hernandez, bass; Tony Scandora, drums and Page Kallop, guitar.



ABOUT CHRISTOPHER CARTER, director and choreographer
Christopher Carter is a graduate of Grand Valley State University with a liberal arts degree in dance. Carter has traveled all over performing/directing and choreographing. Some of his credits include Dreamgirls and In The Heights at Porchlight Music Theatre; as well as Sweeney Todd, Godspell, Secret Garden and Pirates Of Penzance (Grand Valley State University); Show Boat and Oklahoma (Lyric Opera Chicago); Show Boat (San Francisco and Houston Grand Opera); Hairspray (Drury Lane Oakbrook), Joseph… (Paramount Theater); Duke Ellington’s Queenie Pie (Chicago Opera Theater); Oliver, Carousel and Brigadoon (Light Opera Works); The Wiz, 42nd Street and Guys and Dolls (Theatre at the Center); Smokey Joe’s Café (Circle Theatre); The Wild Party (Actor’s Theater). Carter has been the choreographer for the Grand Rapids Civic’s SRT the past four years. Other credits include national tours, commercial, industrial and concert work. As a scholarship student of The Debbie Allen Dance Academy in California, he moved to Chicago in 2009 to expand his mind and resume.  

ABOUT ANDRA VELIS SIMON, music director
Andra Velis Simon returns to Porchlight, where she music directed last year’s Porchlight Revisits On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. Most recently she was the music director for the Firebrand production Lizzie. Regional credits include: Oregon Shakespeare Festival, A.R.T. in Cambridge, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Skirball at NYU, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Berkeley Rep and Olney Theatre Center in Maryland. In Chicago, her credits include Chicago Children’s Theatre, Firebrand, The Goodman, The Hypocrites, Theater Wit and many others. Velis Simon is an adjunct faculty member at Columbia College Chicago, where she has taught musical theatre performance since 2008.


ABOUT SHARRIESE HAMILTON, “Sonia Walsk”
Sharriese Hamilton returns to Porchlight Revisits where she last starred in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. She hails from Okemos Michigan with a BA in Theatre from Michigan State University and has been seen at Porchlight Music Theatre in How To Succeed, Ain’t Misbehavin, Pal Joey and A Class Act. Her Chicago credits include Sleeping Beauty, Madagascar, The Velveteen Rabbit, Sister Act (Marriott Theatre); Rock of Ages, James and the Giant Peach (Drury Lane Oakbrook Theatre); Wonderful Town (Goodman Theatre),Thaddeus and Slocum (Lookingglass Theatre) Pericles (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); The Wild Party, See What I What I Wanna See and Passing Strange (Bailiwick Chicago); All Shook Up (Theatre at the Center) Jesus Christ Superstar (Theo Ubique), and We Three Lizas (About Face Theatre). Regional credits include HAIR (McLeod Summer Playhouse) SpamalotWorkingThe 25th Annual Putnum County Spelling Bee, and Buddy:The Buddy Holly Story (Timber Lake Playhouse).

ABOUT LORENZO RUSH JR., “Vernon Gersch”
Lorenzo Rush Jr returns to Porchlight Music Theatre where he appeared in Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Jeff Award Nomination) and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. He has also performed in Five Guys Named Moe (Court Theater) Jesus Christ Superstar (Paramount Theater), Dreamgirls, City of Angels (Marriott Theater), Little Shop of Horrors (American Blues Theater), and Parade (BoHo Theater). Rush’s TV/Film credits include: “Sirens” on USA Network. Rush received his BFA in Musical Theater at Western Illinois University.

ABOUT PORCHLIGHT REVISITS
Continuing to forge its role as “Chicago’s Music Theatre,” Porchlight launched the exciting new series Porchlight Revisits in 2013; especially created for the die-hard music theatre aficionado. Each season, Porchlight Music Theatre shares with audiences the rare opportunity to visit three musicals that opened on the Great White Way but have since gone “unsung.” The finest music theatre artists in Chicago dust off these neglected treasures and, with script in hand and minimal staging, escort audiences to a world of Broadway long past. Previous Porchlight Revisits productions include: (2016/17) The Rink, Little Me, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever; (2015/16) Chess, Applause, Babes in Arms; (2014/15) Bells Are Ringing, City of Angels, Mack & Mabel and (2013/14) Anyone Can Whistle, Golden Boy, Fade Out-Fade In.







Future Porchlight Revisits Final Performance in its 2017 – 2018 Series:


Do Re Mi 
May 22 – 24
Book by Garson Kanin
Music by Jule Styne
Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green
Direction and Choreography by Christopher Pazdernik
Music Direction by David Fiorello
Starring Nancy Voigts and Porchlight Artistic Director Michael Weber
Originally created for the comic style of the great Phil Silvers and Nancy Walker, this is the story of “Hubie Cram,” a minor-league conman endlessly scheming to win big who, at the urging of his long-suffering wife, “Kay,” decides to go (somewhat) straight by moving into the jukebox and music promotion business as he concocts his biggest score ever. Featuring the hits: “Make Someone Happy,” “Fireworks” and “I Know About Love.”

ABOUT PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE AS RUTH PAGE ARTIST IN-RESIDENCE
Porchlight Music Theatre is proud to be a member of the vibrant Ruth Page Center for the Arts community and an Artist In-Residence. Central to the Ruth Page Center for the Arts’ programming is the Artists In-Residence program, which is designed to serve organizations looking for a home base while they grow or expand their artistic and organizational capabilities. The Center is committed to nurturing and assisting 
dance and other performing artists, allowing for exchange and collaborative relationships to develop within the artistic community. The Ruth Page Center for the Arts is a destination for quality performing arts, accessible to a wide community regardless of race, gender, age, education or disability. An incubator of artistic energy and excellence, the Ruth Page Center for the Arts carries forward the vision of its founder, legendary dance icon Ruth Page, to be a platform for developing great artists and connecting them with audiences and community.

ABOUT PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE
As the home for music theatre in Chicago now in its 23rd season, Porchlight Music Theatre is nationally recognized for reimagining classic productions, developing new works and showcasing musical theatre’s noted Chicago veterans and rising stars. Porchlight elevates the genre by providing intimate and powerful theatrical experiences of music theatre through the lens of the “Chicago Style.” The 2017–2018 year marks a milestone for Porchlight as the company becomes an Artist In-Residence at the historic Ruth Page Center for the Arts in Chicago’s Gold Coast. Porchlight’s rich history includes the staging of more than 60 productions with 15 Chicago premieres and five world premieres. Through Porchlight’s “Off the Porch” new works program, the musicals of the next generation are developed and given a first audience. The School at Porchlight is Chicago’s center for music theatre training in the areas of performance, writing and appreciation including the launch of a youth summer “Make Your Own Musical” Camp in 2017. The company’s many accolades include 22 Black Theatre Alliance nominations and seven awards, as well as a total of 139 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations resulting in 42 Jeff Awards including five consecutive Best Production awards for The Scottsboro Boys (2017), Dreamgirls (2016),Sondheim on Sondheim (2015), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (2014) and A Class Act (2013).

Porchlight Music Theatre continues its fifth season of Chicago’s “lost” musicals in staged concert series with Porchlight Revisits They’re Playing Our Song, starring Sharriese Hamilton and Lorenzo Rush Jr., music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager and book by Neil Simon, with direction and choreography by Christopher Carter and musical direction by Andra Velis Simon. Porchlight Revisits They’re Playing our Song is presented for three-nights-only Tuesday, March 6 through Thursday, March 8 at 7:15 p.m. and is performed on the set of Porchlight’s Merrily We Roll Along (previews begin January 26) at Porchlight’s new home, The Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn Street. Tickets for They’re Playing Our Song are $35. All tickets include access to the popular pre-performance event, Behind the Show Backstory, a multimedia presentation, created and hosted by Porchlight Music Theatre Artistic Director Michael Weber that discusses the evening’s production including the show’s creative history, juicy backstage gossip and the state of the art on Broadway that season. Single tickets to They’re Playing Our Song and subscriptions for the entire series are available at porchlightmusictheatre.org or by calling the Porchlight Music Theatre box office at 773.777.9884.

Porchlight Music Theatre is partially supported by generous contributions from the  Bayless Family Foundation, Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation, Actors’ Equity Foundation, Chapman | Spingola, Attorneys at Law, the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, James P. and Brenda S. Grusecki Family Foundation, the MacArthur Fund for Arts & Culture at the Prince Foundation, The Saints and the Topfer Family Foundation. The season program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, a state agency and by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events. 

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